Title

Musical Plants!
Erin :~)

Problem Scenario

This is important because if people are planting, they need to know if they should plant it near a road, in nature or a place where there are no sounds.

Broad Question

Does sound affect plant growth?

Specific Question

What sounds make plants grow faster?

Hypothesis

I predict that the plant with the nature sounds will grow the fastest, the plant with no sounds will grow the second fastest and the plant with car sounds will grow the slowest.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: Sound

Dependent Variable: Growth

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Light, water

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Growth-To increase in size or substance

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General Plan

My general plan is to see if plants grow fastest with nature sounds, car sounds and no sound. I will play the sounds for the day. I am planning on putting them in the leaf lab in my school. I will play the sounds for the day and shut them off at night. I will water them once a day.I will check them during science class. Also, at the end of the day I will measure the plants and record the data in my notebook.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The plant could die so I could plant a new one. The plant might not grow.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

The plant could die because its not in it's usual environment.

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

What is your experimental unit?

3 plants

Number Of Trials:

Once everyday for three plants.

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

3 subjects. One plant with car sounds, one with nature sounds and one with no sound.

Number of Observations:

I will take a measurement once everyday for five days.

When data will be collected

I will measure the plants each day. I will water the plants once a day.

Where will data be collected?:

I will record my data in my notebook once a day. The measurements will be of how tall the plant has grown.

Resources and Budget Table

Item Quantity Where Cost

Rye grass seeds		Mr. Biche	0.00
Poster Board	1		5.00

Detailed Procedure

1. I will set up my plants in the leaf lab by putting them inside cardboard boxes with speakers in the box with them.
2. I will play the city sounds for one plant, nature sounds for one and no sounds for the last one.
3. I will leave the plants in there for nine days, watering them once a day.

Diagram

Photo List

I'm going to take pictures of my plants as they grow, how my project is set up and how much the plants have grown.

Time Line

2/8 - I set up my project in the leaf lab and planted the plants
2/9 - I saw the first sign of growth
2/15 - I concluded my experiment

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Data Table

	No Sounds	Nature Sounds	City Sounds
2/8	No growth	No Growth	No Growth
2/9	No Growth	No Growth	0.7 cm
2/10	No Growth	0.9 cm	1.1 cm
2/11	No Growth	1.9 cm	1.4 cm
2/12	No Growth	3.9 cm	1.9 cm
2/13	No Growth	4.7 cm	2.7 cm
2/14	0.6 cm	6.6 cm	4.3
2/15	1.6 cm	8.3 cm	6.1

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

I noticed in my graph that the plant with the city sounds started growing first. But then after the second day, the nature sound plant grew faster.

Photos

Results

The plant with the nature sounds grew the fastest. I think this because the sounds of nature are the environment that the plant should be in. It's what the plant is used to. It's the natural sounds that the plant should be in.

Conclusion

The plant with the nature sounds grew the fastest.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

This benefits the community because since music helps plants grow, farmers might start playing it for their crops so they grow faster. Then we will get our food faster and be able to sell it.
Background Research
The right sounds can create improvements in growth, and the wrong sounds can do the opposite. Plants are more aware of their surroundings than we think. Once established, ryegrass continues growing fastly, particularly during the spring. During this period, rye grass may need mowing twice a week to keep it at the right height.
Plants need water, food and sunlight to grow. Other factors like how much water, how much soil, and how much sunlight can affect how the plant grows. It is also possible that the sound and stimulation around the plant can effect how the plant grows.

Sources:
http://www.smilinggardener.com/plants/music-and-plants
http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/music-and-plants/

Discussion

My project worked out well. I had some technical difficulties playing the nature sounds at first but I figured out the problem and fixed it. Besides that, everything went as planned. The music played well and the plants grew quickly enough so I could conclude my experiment in about five days. If I was to ever to my experiment over again, I would probably keep the plants at my house because it was hard to go upstairs to where y experiment was set up. I only had about a half hour up there each day and in that time, I had to water the plants, measure them, record the data and check to make sure the music was playing correctly.


Abstract

In this experiment, I planted three plants. For each plant, I played a different sound. For one plant, I played nature sounds, for another plant, I played car sounds and for the last plant, I played no sounds. I left the plants in the leaf lab at my school for five days. I went up to the leaf lab every day to water and measure the plants. To measure the plants, I would put a ruler up to one of the pieces of grass and record the data on a piece of paper. I measured it in centimeters. On the fifth day of my experiment, I measured the plants to find which plant had grown the tallest.